This invention relates to filters for filtering fluids such as engine oil, coolant, fuel, hydraulic or transmission fluid. Fluid filters are used to remove contaminants from fluid.
Fluid filters are used to remove contaminants from fluid such as engine oil. Internal combustion engines use oil to lubricate bearings and reduce friction. This oil is circulated through the engine and carries contaminants such as metal particles, carbon particles and dirt that may cause harm to the engine. In order to effectively lubricate the engine, engine oil is passed through a filter to remove the contaminants before the oil is recirculated into the engine. The typical oil filter is attached to an internal combustion engine at the oil filter receptacle. Engine oil passes through a discharge opening in the oil filter receptacle, into a fluid filter and then into the engine lubrication system through an oil inlet pipe. A filter element in the fluid filter removes contaminates from the oil before it reenters the engine through the oil inlet pipe. Because of the dynamic nature of this process, oil filters must be sealed to protect from oil leaking into the atmosphere.
Oil filters have traditionally been of a disposable type creating a great environmental concern. Used oil filters are disposed of in landfills or by incinerating. Recent improvements in the art have separated the filter elements from the filter canister allowing users to dispose of only the filter element and thus reducing the quantity of waste material. However, a large volume of waste is still generated by disposing of the filter element.
Various engine manufacturers, such as Caterpillar Detroit, etc., use different arrangements for attaching oil filters to their engine blocks. The different mount necessitates additional cost to produce and distribute oil filters. The supply of filters for various engine manufacturers involves the remanufacture of major components of an oil filter or an entire filter assembly in order to adapt a filter product to a particular engine.
There is a need for a fluid filter for filtering a variety of fluids which features a reusable filter element and which can easily be adapted to different connection configurations, especially for use in engines as oil filters.
There is a need in the automotive industry to allow oil filters that are much larger than those designed specifically for a given engine to be mounted on that engine. Provided that enough clearance space is available in the engine, the larger the filter that can be mounted on the engine, the more surface area is available for filtering and the more efficient the filtering process.
An oil filter adapter ring for mounting between the oil filter receptacle of an engine and an oil filter canister, the oil filter receptacle having a connector ring, an unfiltered oil outlet, and a filtered oil tube, the canister having an o-ring, the o-ring having an internal diameter and an external diameter, the oil filter adapter ring comprising:
a) a disc having an external diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the canister o-ring;
b) a ring having an external diameter substantially equal to the external diameter of the disc, the ring engaging the disc and the canister o-ring and cooperating with the disc and the canister o-ring to form a channel therebetween;
c) a plurality of adapter oil inlets traversing the disc;
d) an adapter oil outlet traversing the disc; and
e) an adapter o-ring sealingly engaging the connector ring
wherein the external diameter of the connector ring is less than the internal diameter of the canister o-ring.
A principal object and advantage of the present invention is to allow the use of a larger oil filter than was designed for use on a particular engine, to provide increased filtering.
Further features and advantages of the invention are pointed out with the description of the preferred embodiment, drawings and claims of this application.